A $63 billion marriage of convenience

That’s how analysts described AbbVie’s Tuesday announcement that it will acquire Allergan, a move that unites two companies with undeniable flaws and uncertain futures.

AbbVie is printing money thanks to Humira, but that drug's days of exclusivity are numbered, and no one’s terribly convinced about what comes next. Allergan is hemorrhaging value and dealing with shareholder unrest. Combined, they can stave off some existential questions, but, as PiperJaffray analyst Christopher Raymond wrote, “two turkeys don’t make an eagle.”

The problem for AbbVie is that it needed to buy something both big and good to move on from Humira. “Allergan satisfies the ‘big enough’ problem ... but whether it is ‘good’ is in the eye of the beholder,” wrote Tim Anderson of Wolfe Research.

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